Newcastle and Sunderland will face each other at St. James’ Park in the Premier League on March 20.

Both the Magpies and the Black Cats are in real danger of getting relegated to the Championship at the end of the season.

Former Newcastle striker Shearer believes that Steve McClaren’s side will lose the Tyne-Wear derby.

“They will meet at St James’ Park in a fortnight, in what could be a winner-stays-up clash,” the former England international wrote in The Sun. “It is now five years since Newcastle last beat their local rivals — and Sunderland have won the last six meetings.

“I expect them to make that seven. There is simply no evidence that this Newcastle team are suddenly going to turn the corner and find a performance anywhere near worthy of a shirt graced by so many great players down the years.”

Newcastle have been hugely disappointing this season and have been in terrible form in recent weeks.

The Magpies are second from bottom in the league table at the moment with 24 points from 28 matches.

McClaren’s side are a point behind 17th-placed Sunderland and also have a game in hand.

Subhankar Mondal

A football journalist based in Wakefield, Subhankar Mondal has previously worked for Goal.com International and Skysports.com, and has had his sports articles published in The Guardian and The Observer. He has also been on the BBC in the past and his name once found its way to the pages of the World Soccer magazine. He was recently cited in a major Louis van Gaal biography.